Böcker utgivna av Elm Hill

I'm a product of the American divorce rate. Nothing tragic. Nothing obscure or awful. Just good old-fashioned family failure. Then in my early adulthood, I found myself repeating the very same home I grew up in and assimilating into American statistics myself. In response to the wreckage, I began driving. When I thought I was at the end of it all, I discovered that I was really at the beginning of a grand adventure. I was off to find my father. And finding my father would lead to finding security.Security is perhaps one of our greatest needs as humans. Romantics say love is our greatest need. Philosophers say knowledge is our greatest needs. Mystics say transcendence is our greatest need. But what if security is in-fact our greatest need? Who would we be as a people, as a church, and as a nation if we felt a sense of security in our lives? Not superficial security where life is predictable, but a sacred security. One that's firm in our identity.Affirmation by a father is something we all need, whether we want to admit it or not. Not having my father around in my most critical adolescent years created an insecurity in me that I eventually transferred over to my faith. I even transferred it over leaders and other authorities in my life. A breeding ground for insecurity. It wasn't until I found the secrets of beauty and adversity, and found the Father in the wild, that I became healthy and whole.This journey is an introspective look at faith and freedom, and finding a father, with crisis as a catalyst. It's a journey across the wilderness of America, through prairies and mountains, across National Parks and along interstates, and ultimately the highways of the heart and mind.

';A perfect world begins with perfect humans.'X to The Nth is the story of Dr. Cain Wyczthack III (WICH-thak), President and CEO of the Engenechem Corporation, and his trusted partner, Dr. Alan White. Together, the two have worked for decades and spent billions of dollars to engineer and create a perfect, highly intelligent, genetically pure slave-labor force that's sustainable, easily replaceable...and untraceable.Evan Armada Nine and Chloe Rover Seven are only two of thousands of clones who work diligently behind the scenes to advance Cain's agenda and complete his top-secret projects. Although extreme measures are taken to ensure the female clones are kept isolated from their male counterparts, Dr. Wyczthack insists on tracking their every move with motion and sound sensitive video cameras and RFID chips embedded in their shoulders.However, destiny will intercede and see to it that Chloe and Armada's paths intersect. What is the mysterious entity that suddenly appears and leads Armada to Chloe? Why does the powerful presence want to help the couple break away from their masters? If they can manage to elude Engenechem's surveillance and tracking systems, where will the pair flee to?After a hurried and daring escape attempt, the runaways discover Cain's plans for the destruction of Earth and annihilation of its inhabitants, including the army of clones. To ensure that only the strong and genetically pure will survive a thermonuclear ';New Genesis', Engenechem, with the aid and contribution of the largest corporations and governments of the world, builds orbital stations, subterranean bunkers and storage warehouses, a space elevator, satellite hunters, and positional, space-based missile silos. The duo comes to the sad realization that they and the rest of the clones were created for the sole purpose of constructing the artificial environments that will house Dr. Wyczthack's hand-selected survivors of his global, atomic genocide.Will the love-struck clones successfully stop the launch of hundreds of nuclear missiles? Can Armada and Chloe avoid detection long enough to make a clean getaway from Engenechem's military fortress?

The Lord Jesus Christ declared . . . I will build My church: and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18). Throughout the past two thousand years, the church has proclaimed a variety of methods for people to follow in Jesus' steps. Yet, few have followed His instructions and built the church according to Christ's teachings which were entrusted to the ministers in His church. The first church was rooted and grounded in the Apostles' Doctrine (Acts 2:42) and as such the church was built on the sure foundation. Sadly, it has not always contended for the faith but designed and adopted methods that are not in accordance with Christ's teachings.Now is the appropriate time for the church to return to the biblical structure and conform to tenets found in the Bible. This book contains all the tenets of the Apostles' Doctrine in one volume. It expounds the deep truths within the Holy Writ and leads ministers to once again conform to the perfect will of God (Romans 12:1-2).

When God created the world there was a canopy covering the Earth. Before Noah and the Flood, people and animals lived hundreds of years because there was less radiation coming through the atmosphere, troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, and all the spheres around the Earth protecting us from outer space. Theodore E. Bear, or ';Teddy,' as he was lovingly called, was created by God and asked to protect children. As a creation of God, he could not live forever. When he was in his 500th year of life, God saw the beloved Teddy slowing down, but never tired by his work with children. Instead of scampering like a cub, he sauntered like a stately elder statesman, wearing a plaid vest and sporting a lovely cane, made for him by one of his friends, generally one of the Beaver's. God called to Teddy to chat and asked him to help to create a stuffed teddy bear. This was a very special moment for Theodore. He knew God didn't need his help, but he was with Him, ';as a master craftsman at His side, and daily His delight.' (Proverbs 8:30) They worked together and created a new Teddy Bear who would be given to children by their Mommy's and Daddy's who remembered their own Teddy. God and Teddy knew the new Teddy Bear they had made was perfect. God made sure the bear was huggable and able to last through the years of childhood and beyond with a smile that never wavered. We hope you enjoy The Legend of Theodore E. Bear and love your own Teddy.

To the weary, the broken, the discouraged and the disconnected, LIFT, is the power of encouragement, the strength underneath you, to LIFT you to the next level. In the face of your dilemma, God makes ';a way where there seems no way.'A Boeing 747 maximum takeoff weight is 970,000 lbs. yet it lifts seamlessly from the tarmac into the air embarking on its incredible journey. Defying gravity, the aerodynamic thrust of air beneath its wings, defined as lift, takes the burden-laden aircraft into the skies. The mighty eagle, with its nearly 7.5 ft. wingspan, graciously rises above the earth; lift is the strength to take the fearless eagle higher.God promises in Isaiah to those who wait upon the Lord, ';They will rise up as eagles,' God is the invisible strength underneath us to LIFT us to a higher level. What you cannot do on your own, LIFT turns the wilderness into a classroom, purging into fruitfulness and prayer into a delight.Each chapter stands alone in leading us out of discouragement and into encouragement. With questions after each chapter, the book is designed for personal devotion or for group study.

Does the Bible really offer guidance for the complicated financial system in our world today? CPA, author and personal financial counselor John Madison offers a resounding yes! Since retiring from full-time work as a CPA at the age of 49, he has written his new book, The Steward Plan, which explores how following Biblical guidelines can lead people at any stage of life to financial success God's way.The Steward Plan covers many aspects of becoming the financial steward God desires, including how to set financial goals, tithing guidance and strategies, creating a blueprint for spending, eliminating debt from your life, growing your wealth wisely over time, removing unnecessary risk from your financial life, and developing a plan to bless future generations. Combining Scripture with practical and easy-to-understand financial terms, The Steward Plan will help you gain control over your money and live the life God designed for you.The Steward Plan is an outgrowth of Dayspring Financial Ministry, whose mission is to teach Biblical financial stewardship. Like all of Dayspring's programs, The Steward Plan does not promote or attempt to sell any specific insurance or investing products. It is an independent source of financial information and education, free of any bias, other than conformity with Scripture.

Congratulations! You may have just finished up your student-teaching and landed your first teaching position. You begin to think about your first year with your new students. Student teaching was a great experience, but now you may be searching for answers of how to get started running your own classroom.This practical and inspirational daily guide for teachers was comprised over many years and through interviews of teachers at all grade levels. The collective years of teaching experience interviewed was over 500 years of experience from K-12 educators both in private and public schools across the country!Teaching for God's Glory is a daily walk with the new teacher to help the new educator plan for their first years of teaching. The first section, Before the School Year Begins, gives practical advice on ways to set up your classroom, communication with parents and students, as well as orienting yourself with your new surroundings. The rest of the year is divided into quarters of the year with applicable and inspiring advice and wisdom that new teachers can use right away in their classrooms. At the end of each school week, there is a place for reflection on what worked well that week, areas for growth, and prayer requests for you or your students. This book makes the perfect gift for those starting their own career in education. Years later, they will be able to look back and reflect on how much they have grown in their craft!Tyler Harms has over a decade of experience serving students and families at the elementary and secondary levels. He graduated from Calvin College with a BA in Education and went on to get two Master's Degrees in Special Education and Mathematics. Tyler spent many hours interviewing master teachers across the country and reflecting on his own journey as an educator.Teaching for God's Glory is the book we all wish we had read in college before becoming a teacher. The book gives practical advice and inspiration to those who are in the trenches each day educating our future leaders.

The fact that surprisingly few Christians actually know and experience the mighty God we preach about, teach about, and sing about is evidenced by the abundance of doubt, worry, and fear that permeate our lives. It is evidenced by the lack of faith and power exemplified in our Churches. It is evidenced by the ordinary lives we live while claiming to be children of the most high God. The resulting inconsistencies between the things we boldly profess and the things we commonly practice have unfortunately become accepted as normal Christian behavior. We no longer expect anything more--not from our own lives, not from the Church, not even from God Himself.This lack of expectancy, this lack of faith in the faithfulness of God clearly indicates a distinct difference between the God we preach and the God we have personally come to know. It reveals that we do not know the very God we proclaim. We do not know the God of the Bible; for if we knew Him, the Church would indeed be an eminent light shining in the darkness, a city set on a hill, an indelible force against which the powers of this present evil world could not prevail.The God we do know, however, the God with whom so many Christians have become familiar, unfortunately, allows us to live comfortably in the weakness of our complacency and blatant disbelief. We live far below the high calling that Christ has placed upon His Church. We walk in ways that deny the very power and authority that belong to the children of God. We do not live by faith. Sadly, we have learned to live in such a way as to where there is no distinguishable difference between the lives of those who claim to know Christ and the lives of those who do not--no distinguishable difference between the Church and the world.The good news is that the truth remains. The God of the Bible is still there. He can do no other than prove Himself faithful to those who hunger and thirst after righteousness--to those who hear His voice and obey. Yes, to those who would yet have a heart to know Him, He is there to be known. We must first, however, lay aside all notions of the small God we have come to know and we must dare to see Him as He is if we are to rise above the routine of cultural Christianity and walk in the truth of knowing Christ.

Following my Grandmother's old recipe for homemade Chicken soup one day, I began to see similarities in each step to those of the refining process the Holy Spirit was doing in my own life. We, as Christians have been predestined to be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. It's a daily work of the Holy Spirit in us that brings it about. The process of dying to self and opening the way for Jesus to live life through us.I have written this book for the Body of Christ, both those who are new in their faith walk and mature Christians, to encourage, teach and challenge them to open themselves up to the amazing work the Holy Spirit desires to do in our lives.I have held this revelation in my heart for many years now. But as I look at our world and see the faces of so many who are desperately searching for something to fill the emptiness and loneliness in their hearts, I realize we have what they need in us, Jesus Christ. I believe that in such a time as this, it's time for the Church, us, to show Jesus to the world as never before.I have lived, and experienced the events of each page and hope and pray that as you read and study it, you will learn to look at your life's experiences no longer as just coincidence and evil circumstances of this world but as Spiritual events in the Transformation process.

In her 1991 bombshell book, Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women, author and activist Susan Faludi wrote ';a backlash against women's rights' is a ';recurring phenomenon' and that it usually occurs whenever women make significant advances in society. In the new millennium, the world has seen more and more women leading countries, winning Nobel Prizes, and attaining positions at all levels of government. Enter the #MeToo movement in the wake of white male bullies' continued objectification and dehumanization of women after 2016.Finding Your Inner Warrior is the answer to the latest backlash and assault on women. Dr. Nora Fahlberg is not offering the passive, neutralizing advice of our mothers and grandmothers. She offers strategic defense strategies for even the most reticent woman, giving them the power to channel their own Boudicas in the face of the latest onslaught. Finding Your Inner Warrior is a handbook for managing the next drunken frat boy, the wolf at the backyard barbecue or the ogre at the office.

Shattered Dreams--But Hope by Drs. Laquita and Elton Higgs, is a book of both testimony and advice: testimony born out of the school of trial and suffering, and advice born out of practical experience in being long-term caregivers. Laquita and Elton have for the last 26 years been caregivers to two adopted daughters with early onset Huntington's Disease (HD), which is hereditary, and they offer a gripping account of their extended experience in adjusting to the challenges of long-term caregiving, followed by sober practical counsel to others who are involved in similar caregiving experiences. A final chapter speaks specifically of the role of Christian faith in coping with the stresses of their long struggle. In the Appendices are a short talk given after Cynthia's funeral by her older sister Liann and several poems by Elton on the emotional impact of his and Laquita's relationship with their disabled daughters.The complexity of the story told by the Higgses is heightened by the fact that their two youngest adopted daughters are mother (Cynthia) and biological daughter (Rachel). Elton and Laquita adopted Cynthia as a baby, knowing that she had HD in her background but hoping and praying that she would not develop the disease. Her childhood was normal, but when she became an adolescent, she began to manifest behavioral aberrations that her parents later recognized as being consistent with early onset HD. At age 25, Cynthia was diagnosed as having the disease, and soon afterward she became pregnant with Rachel. Since it was apparent that she could not function as a single mother, Laquita and Elton agreed to adopt Rachel at birth. This action ushered them into a complicated care-giving relationship that has lasted for more than 25 years.Laquita and Elton emphasize the difficult but necessary development of trust in God's goodness and a deep conviction that He is at work even when we can perceive no immediate evidence of it. Especially poignant is their very personal confession of their mistakes in caring for their HD-affected daughters and their struggles to understand that HD, not mere perversity, was the primary source of their daughters' irrational and angry behavior. Thus, they had to accept that expecting their daughters to be normally responsible persons was both futile and unproductive. Instead, they had to learn simply to love them with God's love and to pray constantly for God's wisdom in carrying out their task. It is from this perspective of learning to survive through hardship that Laquita and Elton tell their story and offer both practical and spiritual counsel for caregivers everywhere.

First Adam vs. Last Adam offers a viewpoint of America's embrace of our national government and those citizens who also embrace the kingdom of God. The current inability of our political leaders to find workable solutions to our country's problems is troubling for many Americans. Confidence in our leader's ability to effectively govern is a low point.This brief commentary takes the reader back to the fundamental perspective of the original writers of the Declaration of Independence. This document forms the basis of America's initial desire to be free from onerous laws imposed by the British sovereign.Today our government has reassumed the role of a sovereign king in many matters. That authority needs to be challenged with the authority of the kingdom of God.This is a call for Christians to reflect upon misguided leadership offering inadequate solutions.

The Fields is a Christian inspirational book written by a cancer doctor that discusses the challenges of life, especially from the medical perspective, the beauty of God's creation and human relationships, the need to care for the least among us through mission works and appreciation for the simple gifts of life. 100% OF THE PROCEEDS OF THIS BOOK WILL BE DONATED TO: 1. The Russell Hill Cancer Foundation (to aid poor and/or uninsured cancer patients in and around North Alabama). 2. Project Abundant Life (a transitional housing ministry for single moms in Madison County, Alabama). 3. Bessong Ministries (to aid poor and/or divorced, downtrodden people in North Alabama, and hospital and cancer center chaplaincy). 4. Until They Know Ministry (a ministry for poor Haitians and Dominicans in and around Puerto Plata, the Dominican Republic). 5. Desert Rose Ministries (ministries to rescue girls from forced marriages, FGM, and to reach the unreached people in Kenya, Africa). 6. Kenya Relief (a ministry to rescue, house and educate orphans, and to provide medical care for the poor people in Migori, Kenya, Africa).

In the book of Genesis, we see creation, God's pursuit in covenant, displays of righteousness and faith, but also humanity's rebellion, judgment, racism, social inequality, and depravity run amuck. We see the difference in walking by faith with God and walking by worldly standards. We see holy justice and raw human injustice. In Genesis chapters 29 and 30, there is no shortage of these elements, where God chose to preserve a diary, of sorts, of a matriarch of the faith. Though history has reduced her story to only descriptive paragraphs, this twelve-week Bible study will unveil why God chose to carry her testimony for our benefit in living out the Christian life. God took her humble position and grafted her into the scarlet thread of the Gospel story. You know her as the wife to a patriarch, who was in love with her sister, and a mother to eight of the original twelve tribes of Israel. Her name is Leah. After this expository styled study, you will be astonished and captivated by her testimony of how faith wrestles to thrive in the land of the living while yielding to the hope of heaven. She is a channel by which world history has been shaped and our hope secured in Christ. You will be encouraged and convicted as you wrestle with the God who revealed Himself to her and who stands to do the same for you.

An exuberant autobiography that began with a fist fight at a get acquainted dance, then on to an adventurous path, cluttered with pot holes and uncertainty that took me beyond what I could ever imagine. Ultimately, it's about how you will be remembered: is it your notable accomplishments or the values associated with who you were?Re-visiting my life as a congressman, I began to realize this could be the inkwell that I'd dip my quill into as I shared how becoming a Christian, plus the influence of notable leaders and plenty of serendipity that helped shaped my public persona. It was a reminder about the importance of the higher standard in serving the public interest, obviously lacking in today's political culture.During my fourteen years in Congress, I witnessed first-hand the civility and trust among the leadership of both political parties that trickled down to the committee rooms and in the House Chamber that lead to notable accomplishments. My own achievements on international trade, human rights, preserving our natural resources happened only because of bipartisan support. Not so today. In the Halls of Congress and beyond (social media), it is more about radical partisanship and the special interests that reigns amok over our political system--a traumatized Congress, verifying what we don't want to hear: this is democracy at its worst. Hopefully my book is revealing of democracy in its best form.For those of faith who serve in elective office, there is plenty of scrutiny, as I experienced as a Democrat. Whether it's your adversaries, the skeptical media, or even supporters, there are lingering questions about who you are. Your moral fiber is always on the line, although some political figures manage to twist and slide and escape the judgment that they merit. And others get squarely called out and dragged before the court of public scrutiny. Hopefully, A Higher Calling well serve as a moral compass for others who must cope with their own challenges.My good fortune was a select number of political leaders, whose integrity and moral courage had an influence on my personal and political life that I did not fully appreciate until writing this book. A few were men of faith and others were guided by a moral compass, embracing higher standards that put the national interest first and foremost. Their actions for the common good over political and material self-interest showed me the right way.The act of re-living one's past was revealing of how the episodes and intrigue captured the essence who I was and to solidify the inevitable question: why am I here? That line of inquiry led me to a rather creative epiphany: it wasn't so much a memoir that I was prepared to write, but a call to action that made a big difference and has inspired me to share with others.

Unicorn Dreams is about a little girl who looks forward to her father reading to her nightly. She muses about what her father might read to her next. As she is tucked into her bed with her favorite stuffed animal, her father opens a book and reads about a unicorn who, with the help of her lion friend, is granted a special wish. The unicorn drinks from a magic fountain and gains the ability to soar to the heavens. The little girl later dreams that she can soar into the heavens like the unicorn.

Take a Bite Out Of Jesus is a spiritual lesson told by the author of his personal journey through hardships of failing health. Everyone at some point in their life will meet life-changing health challenges. We all have to manage our fading bodies but take heart! We are promised a new body that clothes us! The new is from heaven and is raised in glory! The Lord will raise us up on the last day and give believers an everlasting body having the properties associated with the body of Jesus! His strength is perfected in our weakness. This can encourage us as we cope with age-related health issues. So, take heart and partake of the Lords body while still in the flesh. Take a Bite Out Of Jesus right now! And, receive his promise of a better eternal body!

On a sweltering Fourth of July, the suicide of fourteen-year-old Maureen Bower's father shatters her security. She fears that eventually, everyone she loves will abandon her.With the words, ';May I have this dance,' Frank Russo introduces himself to Maureen at a roller-skating rink. As he teaches her skate dancing, she falls deeply in love with him. Meanwhile, the country advances further into World War 2. They wait until they feel it is safe to marry only to return from their honeymoon to find Frank's draft notice. He leaves for the Pacific and is gone for the next three years. When Frank's best friend, Harvey, dies at Normandy, Maureen's closest friend, June, walks out of her life too.Frank returns from the war physically and emotionally scarred, Maureen does her best to mend him until their first child's birth hastens his recovery. They share rich experiences, develop close friendships, raise two daughters and eventually welcome the young women's husbands into their lives. When their children move from Brooklyn, New York to suburban Connecticut, Frank and Maureen follow and become active volunteers at the Bristol Senior Center. On the night of Lieutenant William Calley's conviction for the Mai Lai Massacre however, Frank is overcome with guilt. When he confesses his own wartime atrocities to Maureen, she struggles to understand the man she thought she knew.Through fifty-plus years of marriage, Frank becomes the center of Maureen's world until his sudden death shatters her faith and rekindles her deep fear of abandonment. She can't escape from the crushing loneliness. Friends, family and even ministers are helpless to lift her from her depression. Maureen finds tasks like driving a car, paying the bills, even cleaning the house overwhelming and her smallest joy feels like a betrayal to Frank. As she prepares to end her suffering, help comes from the unlikeliest of sources: Doris Cantrell. Following an abusive childhood, a troubled marriage and estrangement with her own daughter, Doris is as damaged as is Maureen. The mistreatment she inflicts on others evidences her contempt, yet underneath it all, Maureen senses a deep sadness. Doris refuses to sympathize with Maureen's plight and persists in exposing her to different experiences and new ways of living. Maureen also refuses to accept that Doris's past gave her the right to abuse people in the present or to neglect her bond with her daughter. Both women lack the strength or will to help anyone. Nevertheless, God has His own plan for these wounded angels. The inconsolable widow and the uncontrollable social misfit manage to support and help heal each other. They do this, not despite their brokenness, but because of it. Maureen and Doris become close friends.As Maureen heals, the widower, Larry Kowalski, reenters her life. Through their shared experiences of love and loss, they fall deeply in love. However, will her daughters understand her being with another man? In addition, can Maureen's friendship with Doris survive her love for Larry?

Since committing my life to Christ, I have, occasionally, become a secretary for the Holy Spirit. This collection comes out of that relationship and the various conversations we have shared at the highs, lows, and in-betweens of that walk.